hey all new here. i am looking at buying a sled for duck hunting and river fishing. i like the lowe 2070 but it only comes with a 75 hp 2stk jet. not sure if that is enough power to get me and 2 guys with some gear up a river? i want a versatile sled like the tiller wide open model. any thoughts?

You will get around but you will not get anywhere fast. A 70" bottom is a lot of drag! I have an 18' 54" bottom with a 80hp Yamaha jet. We hunt usually on the Missouri River...with two guys fishing we are getting about 35mph. We duck hunt with 2-4 guys and sometimes a dog, a few dozen ducks and a few dozen geese, normal gear...20-25 is really pushing it. Depending on your river current and depths, it can work but you are severely underpowered. My thinking about a jet is to get into skinny water. I do not know if you will get enough speed with a full load to get the boat up out of the water to utilize the jet for it's real purpose. For that boat I would thin 150/115 jet is what you need. Even with a prop I would say you need at least a 90hp.

Is the boat your looking at only rated for that motor or is that just what it comes with? If it is the rating I would check out some other manufacturers.

Second that, that's not enough power for a jet on a boat that big. We run an 1860 with a 90/65 jet and its fast, empty! Fully loaded with layout, decoys, etc its adequate. Weight really bogs jet boats down. I would keep looking or put a 150 on it.....

look at other boats that is a poor ass rating for such a big boat which probably says something about it's transom construction. Idk if xpress has many jet boats but they give their boats pretty good power ratings. Idk where your located but blazer boats in missouri makes pretty good jet boats. They don't have much of a web page so calling them would be best. Lots of guys in Southern missouri run blazers I've seen quite a few and been in one a 1752 I think with a 40hp jet it ran pretty darn well with two guys and gear no problems planing out.

Red neck engineering- If ya can't fix it with duck tape, bailing wire, zip ties, and JB weld well than it can't be fixed.

If it moves and it aint suppose to duck tape it. If doesn't move and its suppose to put WD-40 on it.

addicted2fowl wrote:yeah thats all lowes rate their tillers for on the 20ft. but I looked at G3 19ft tiller and they rate theirs for the 115 yamaha jet. im thinking thats the better option?

I think the rating is so low because it would be set up for tiller steer not because of the transom strength. . If you looked at something with steering moved forward it would change the rating. You said you wanted a open floor plan. Have you considered getting one with stick steering?